


camera flash - a merfuma one shot

by catradvra



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Lesbians, Mermaids, SFR, Short, but catradora makes an appearance kinda, kinda sad???, merfuma - Freeform, mermista - Freeform, perfuma - Freeform, photographers, sfw, soft, the other characters arent here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 09:11:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18808135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catradvra/pseuds/catradvra
Summary: HI IM REWRITING THE LAST PARTS BC THIS IS ACTUALLY EMBARRASSIGN FKJGKJDSFGJK IM NEVER WRITING EVER AGAIN anyways follow @dseaqueen bc shes my gf and she inspired this one shot with her artwork! shes super talented and deserves ur follow!!merfuma au in which perfuma is a stressed photographer and merfuma is a troubled mermaid. they meet on a beach, and sad lesbianism ensues.ash if u see this hi :>





	camera flash - a merfuma one shot

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [merfuma](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/480829) by dseaqueen. 



Perfuma undeniably remembers the day she first saw the mermaid. She remembers everything about it, the glistening sea, how it sparkled and danced that day as if it was alive, she remembered the crisp sea breeze that gave life to her lungs, how the scent reminded her of those warm days of her youth. The nostalgia factor around the sea in itself was enough to fill her spirits, and just sitting on the ground, her feet dipping into the golden sand as if she was at a spa, brought her a type of joy that she could not describe. She remembered the sea shells that would slither onto the sand and find their way to her, and she also remembers an incident where a small red crab crawled out of a shell, and she swore she could see it scowl at her as the crab then hurriedly moved away from her, where it then escaped back into the ocean. She had so many memories of the beach, but that one memory is by far the one she remembers the most.

The first time she saw the mermaid was around last year, during summer time. Perfuma readied her camera. She held it up to her eyes, looking through the viewfinder. Sighing in disappointment, she took a piece of her skirt wrap to wipe the lens, as the hard-to-reach spots seemed to be covered in sand. The corners of the lens had little grains of sand stuck in between them. It must've happened after the fall, she thought, as he held the heavy camera up to her eyes once more. She winced at the rough strap of the camera, as it irritated her sensitive skin, but she was dedicated towards getting a good shot. Just one good shot, she'd think, one good shot and she'd be able to enjoy the rest of her day at the beach. She enjoyed being there, and the weather was on her side today, so she was particularly excited. The humidity wasn't too bad, the birds weren't too busy, and the children running at her feet weren't too loud. She looked left and right for a scene that she could consider picture worthy, and her eyes stumbled upon a few places. 

Option one was a typical family enjoying a day out at the beach. She saw two young ladies sitting on a sunset towel laughing chirpily. Perfuma could tell by the way they looked at each other that they were in love. Their gazes were soft and tender, and their slight, careless caresses made Perfuma's cheeks heat up. She quickly looked away from the familial scene and instead focused on the children sitting to their right. They were just normal children having fun, and she could see the older child (or so she assumed) mocking the younger child for some reason. They looked to be in an argument, and Perfuma couldn't help but chuckle at the scene. It reminded her of her childhood with her own siblings, and how they always used to get into fights over the smallest things. Perfuma recalled how her older brother would knock down every sand castle she'd make, and she'd cry so much that she'd end up creating a moat to surround the ruined castle. Her brother would then feel a wave of guilt wash over him as he'd quickly try to put the castle back together, albeit terribly, in an attempt to cheer her up. The crooked, sad looking castle he'd build her brought her so much joy that she'd forget about the beautiful one he ruined moments earlier. Her face would light up and her freckles would dance across her face as her and her brother would then play with the castle like it was a diamond. Springing back to reality, Perfuma shook her head. She couldn't take pictures of people, that wasn't her place to do so. These were their moments, not hers. 

Option two was, of course, the sea. Oh how the sea sparkled, she'd think. The sea looked extra blue today. Almost as if someone poured blue paint inside of it, and threw a bag of glitter as the cherry on top. She saw children wading in the shallow ends, they were pointing at something and laughing, and out of curiosity she followed their line of vision to see a man, presumably their father, struggle to stand in the knee-high water. His eyes looked afraid, but his face looked cheerful. He must've been scared out of wits, she thought, but he looks like the type to do anything his kids would want him to do. "That's sweet." She said out loud, to no one in particular.

She positioned the lens upwards so that she could get a full view of the sea. "The sea looks beautiful," she mumbled to herself, "but it looks boring. It looks like the same old same old." Just as she was about to find another location, she saw a glint in the distance. Her eyes brightened. She quickly grabbed at her lens and zoomed in on the glint, making sure to be precise, and noticed a small boat. She zoomed in on the boat even more, and noticed an old fisherman. He was holding onto a long fishing pole, and was merrily gazing into the open blue beneath him. Sitting next to him was a smaller version of him, who Perfuma quickly recognized as his grandson. He was loosely holding a smaller fishing pole. He wasn't looking at the sea like his grandfather was. His attention was somewhere else, and Perfuma couldn't tell where. He was probably thinking of a video game or something. She saw the grandfather pat his grandson on the shoulder, almost as if he was telling him to look. The grandfathers pole started to shake. He held onto it for dear life, and signaled towards the smaller boy to help him. The boy snapped out of the daze he was in and quickly stood up to assist his grandfather. They both pushed and pull with vitality, and a couple moments later, they reeled in a large fish. The grandfather gave his grandson a pat on the back, and the grandson returned the gesture with a surprise hug. "Crap!" Perfuma shouted out loud. She covered her mouth as passer-by's noticed her, and uttered a small apology towards them. She missed the perfect moment to take the picture. She lightly smacked herself on her forehead. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" she repeated, as she walked away from the spot she was standing in earlier. 

She sat down onto her towel and groaned. She felt the warm sand scrunched in between her toes and sighed. Shoving her camera into her bag, she gave it an angry look before zipping it up. She was never going to get the stupid picture, she thought to herself. She grabbed a bottle of water from the mini cooler she brought and twisted the cap. She held the bottle to her lips and took small gulps. She wiped away the water dripping from her chin and fell down backwards onto the towel. She closed her eyes out of habit and exhaled loudly. 

Perfuma just wanted to relax. 

Perfuma took a deep breath and unzipped her bag. She took her camera out of it, and hung it on her wrist by the strap. She stood up suddenly and hit her head on the beach umbrella. She took this as a bad omen, but that didn't matter. She decided on getting the picture and then going home, and then maybe she'd return tomorrow to relax. Or next week. Whenever she was free. She walked around the beach and took in her surroundings. She saw a large rock cave with moss growing all around it, and on top of the rock she saw some teenagers playing on a particularly large rock. On the ground near it she saw a sign labeled 'Do not clime.' The kids were ignoring that sign, however, and Perfuma giggled at the sight. It wasn't her business, after all. She moved on from them and walked farther and farther from where she started.

She ended up at a corner of the beach that she did not recall ever visiting. It was barren here, absolutely empty, and even the birds were quiet. The sun was beginning to set and she could smell the scent of a barbecue in the distance, perhaps signalling the end of the night for some visitors. She felt an odd pull from this part of the beach. Perfuma noticed it was getting dark and took out her phone, using the flash of her phone as her guide. The sand was colder, and a light breeze was beginning to envelope her. She embraced herself for warmth. Far away she could hear the laughs of a party, and she wondered how they could be having this much fun when it was this cold. Oddly enough, she began to shiver. Her teeth were chattering and her hands were shaking. She lost track of time during her walk, and looked up at the sky, noticing that it was almost dusk. Half of the sky was covered in a dark orange-purple, while the rest was a solid, cloudless blue. She thought the sky looked beautiful. She unlocked her phone and snapped a quick picture. The sky looked like a palette of colors that were slowly melting together, like candle wax when brought next to a flame.

She noticed a figure in the distance, near the sea. Unrelated to the figure, she noticed how there weren't any footprints in the sand, but she pushed that to the back of her head. 

She took out her camera, somewhat threateningly. She held it up, almost as if it was a weapon. She didn't think anyone else was gonna be here. She quickly turned around and was met with an odd sight. She saw a mermaid.

The mermaid was struggling. She looked to be stuck in a net, and was eagerly trying to escape from it. Perfuma dropped her camera in shock, and this alerted the mermaid to her presence. She looked alarmed at the sight of the human, and began to struggle even more. Though that was a bad idea, as she only became more stuck. Perfuma picked up her camera and slowly walked towards the mermaid. She took slow, steady steps, and her eyes were locked to the mermaids. She wasn't exactly fearful- it was more like she was extremely shocked. She was used to seeing odd things. She always knew humans weren't alone in the world (though she didn't believe in aliens) and she knew that supernatural beings existed. For far longer than humans have. She recalled stories her grandmother would tell her while tucking a younger Perfuma into bed about these beautiful creatures and their adventures under the sea. She specifically remembers a story about a certain red-headed mermaid, one she secretly harbored feelings for. She recalled how her grandma would talk about her as if she met the mermaid, and she'd speak with a longing in her voice that Perfuma couldn't put her finger on. So she wasn't scared of the mermaid in front of her. She was just surprised. She bent down to meet the mermaid at eye level, and opened her mouth to speak. 

"Hi. I'm Perfuma." 

The mermaid lifted an eyebrow at Perfuma. Why wasn't this human scared of me? She thought. The human girl was staring at her, with a warm smile affixed onto her face. She looked like she expected a response. It was kinda creepy. She stayed silent for a few minutes, silently judging the human, before replying. 

"Hi." She started, sarcastically. "Can you get me out of this net?"

Perfuma was shocked once more. She didn't know mermaids could speak. That was the one thing her grandma told her mermaids couldn't do. Perfuma quietly looked at her in amazement before awkwardly answering her. "S-sure." She said, stuttering. Perfuma sat down onto the cold sand and winced at the iciness of it. That surely wasn't natural. She ignored it, though, as she had a more important matter at hand. Helping the pretty mermaid. She moved in closer to the mermaid, and she could now hear the mermaids breath. So mermaids breathe too, huh. She was gonna write this stuff down later. Their faces were very close, and the mermaid noticed this. Her cheeks heated up and she looked away from the human. Perfuma carefully observed the net, and she dug in her pocket to look for something that could cut it. She didn't have anything sharp on hand, though. After a moment of thinking, a light bulb seemed to have exploded in her head. She looked around the sand for a sharp object. Anything would work. She just needed to free the mermaid. She began digging into the sand to find something. Hopefully, her hands would touch something, and she'd be able to be useful. 

The mermaid couldn't just sit there and watch the human struggle. She groaned and looked down - or as far as she could look down, what with her current state and all - and readied herself. She picked off a scale from her tale and flinched as she felt the slight pain from the removal. The blue scale glittered in the moonlight, and it caught Perfuma's attention. Perfuma stopped digging to look up at the scale that had captured her sight. "That's....that's really.. really pretty." The mermaid rolled her eyes and handed Perfuma the scale, motioning towards the net. Perfuma understood her and quickly nodded. She delicately took the scale, bringing it up to the sky. She silently watched as the moonlight reflected a rainbow of colors onto the scale. It shined, almost. Perfuma cautiously brought the scale to the net and begin dragging it back and forth. It was sharp, indeed. You wouldn't have been able to tell from just the scale itself, but it was sharp to a point. Like a pencil. 

The net slid off with just a couple cuts. The mermaid relaxed and sat up. She looked at Perfuma and smiled, her hand outreached towards her. Any hostility from earlier was now gone, and the mermaid seemed moved by the humans efforts to help her.

"My name's Mermista. I'm the princess of the seven seas. It's nice to meet you, I guess." 

Perfuma took her hand and shook it. "I told you my name already, but it's nice to hear yours. It's really pretty. It suits you."

Mermista scoffed and crossed her arms. She avoided direct eye-contact with the human. "Are you calling me pretty? Because flattery won't get you anywhere." 

"I wouldn't call it flattery." A cocky smirk appeared on Perfuma's face. "But call it what you will." 

Mermista rolled her eyes once more. 

There was something enchanting about the mermaid, and Perfuma couldn't put her finger on it. She had only just met her, but she felt she's known for for centuries. Life times, even. She was comfortable in her presence. It just felt different. Mermista was now comfortably sitting near the waters, and the net seems to be long gone. Perfuma wondered if it was some sort of magical net, as after she started cutting into it, she could see bits and pieces of it turning into star dust. Perfuma wasn't much of a scientist, and she's always believed in the unknown, but she couldn't deny that she's had some sort of doubt buried into her mind about the supernatural. Normal people did not meet mermaids in enchanted beaches. Normal people did not develop small crushes on said mermaids. 

Mermista snapped her fingers in Perfuma's face to get her out of her daze. Mermista had an odd look on her face, and Perfuma could tell something was wrong. 

"Are you okay? She asked, grabbing a hold of Mermista's hands. She took a strand of Mermista's hair that had been sitting on her face and tucked it behind her ear. Mermista blushed at this, though very lightly. Mermista pointed up at the sky. Perfuma looked up and gasped - it was pitch black. Hours had passed. It didn't feel like hours when she was with Mermista, she thought. They hadn't talked much. They mostly just sat in a comfortable silence, with each person enjoying the others foreign presence. The coldness from earlier seemed to melt away whenever she was close to Mermista. "I need to go back." Said Mermista, out of nowhere, with sadness laced into her words. Perfuma didn't look up, and instead sat quietly, as if waiting for Mermista to finish what she was going to say. Mermista tried to speak, but words weren't forming. She wasn't sure why. 

"I-I need to go. I'm a princess - I have to- uh. Princess things."

"Princess things that you can't do here? By me?

Mermista didn't meet Perfuma's eyes. "Yeah."

Perfuma looked sad. Mermista didn't know very much about human emotions, as humans and mermaids are different in every way, but there was something inside of her that told her that Perfuma was sad. She wanted to hug the poor girl, but she didn't wanna become more attached than she already was. Perfuma finally met Mermista's eyes. She sat hand-in-hand with Mermista, and they were quiet until Perfuma finally broke the silence. "Can I take a picture of you?" She asked, expecting a poor response. She just wanted to talk to Mermista again. 

"Go for it."

The camera flashed in Mermista's eyes. She was sitting on the sand, on top of her tail, and she was smiling. Her eyes looked glossy, and her vision looked distant. Her smile looked sad as well, almost as if she was only smiling for the picture. Perfuma held the camera close to her heart. "Will I ever see you again?" She asked, half expecting a complete lie for a response.

Without a word, Mermista began swimming out into the sea. Now a couple feet away from Perfuma, she opened her mouth to reply. "Maybe." She said, as she completely disappeared.

Perfuma kept the camera with her, and has since not taken a picture from it. Photography wasn't her thing, anyways. She claims to be more into cooking, and more into fishing. She meets the grandfather and his son weekly to go fishing, and they're quite lovely from what she's heard. Perfuma has been waiting for her mermaid person every time.


End file.
